Good evening. And welcome to this Special Edition of the Cbs Evening News from rome. Thank you for being with us. Im norah odonnell, overlooking the vatican, where just a few hours ago, we interviewed the holy father, pope francis. The head of the Catholic Church shares his insight on the State Of The World in his first extensive oneonone interview with a u. S. Television network. His holiness spoke to us about war, peace, famine, and Climate Change, all with the worlds children in mind. Our sitdown comes ahead of the vaticans first world childrens day, with a message that all kids are precious in gods eyes. We have been in rome and vatican city for a few days now, speaking with people from around the world who have made the sacred pilgrimage to reconnect with their faith, pray at the sistine chapel, and have a chance to see pope francis. A reminder that people of all faiths turn to pope francis for guidance on the worlds most difficult issues, making our conversation with his holiness that much more important. Oh, my goodness. Bongiorno, your holiness. What an honor. So wonderful to meet you. Lovely to meet you. Thank you so much for doing this. We met pope francis today at casa santa marta, the guest house the pontiff lives, instead of the lavish papal palace. At 87 years old, he may have trouble walking, but he had no difficulty sitting down with us for an hourlong conversation. How is your health . Interpreter my health is good. Norah in nearly every address. The pope often calls for peace. He condemned hamas october 7th attack, but is also called on israel to use restraint. There are now pictures of starving children coming out of gaza. What about those that call that a genocide . Interpreter genocide. Every afternoon at 7 00 p. M. , i call gaza to the parish. There were about 600 people there, and they tell me what is going on. Its very hard. Very, very hard. Food goes in. But they have to fight for it. Its very hard. Norah i know you call for peace. You have called for a ceasefire in many of your sermons. Can you help negotiate peace . Interpreter i can pray. I do. I pray a lot. Norah during world childrens day, which is the end of may, the u. N. Says over a Million People will be facing famine in gaza. Many of them children. What can be done . Interpreter not only gaza. We should think about ukraine. Those kids dont know how to smile. I tell them something, but they forgot how to smile. And this is very hard when a child forgets to smile. Thats really very serious. Very serious. Norah do you have a message for Vladimir Putin when it comes to ukraine . Interpreter please, countries at war, all of them. Stop the war. Look to negotiate. Look for peace. A negotiated peace is better than a war without end. Norah his most holy father is considered one of the most influential people in the world. Leading nearly 1. 4 billion catholics. He is the first pope from the americas, the first jesuit, and will host the vaticans first world childrens day next month. I love that you take the kids in the popemobile with you and bring them up to the Apostolic Palace when you say a prayer. Why do you do that . Interpreter children always bear a message. They bear a message, and it is a way for us to have a younger heart. Norah francis is also the first pontiff to make Climate Change a priority. In 2015, to make an important point, images of the environment were projected onto st. Peters basilica, the dome designed in the mid16th century by michelangelo. What do you say to the deniers of Climate Change . Interpreter there are people who are foolish, and foolish even if you show them research, they dont believe it. Why . Because they dont understand the situation or because of their interests. But Climate Change exists. Norah his progressive style has made him popular worldwide, with millions coming here to st. Peters square to catch a glimpse of the holy father. It has made us emotional. Just being here, going into st. Peters basilica, going into the sistine chapel, just tears coming into our eyes because we are actually, you can feel the spirit. Norah sophia and aaron came with their family from san diego, california. How did it make you feel when he came out of the window . It made me feel good, like butterflies in my stomach. Norah still, the number of catholics in america is dwindling. In the u. S. , only 20 of adults identify as catholic, and that is down from 24 in 2007. I wonder, if you could, speak to those who dont go to mass anymore, or maybe dont see a place for themselves in the Catholic Church. Interpreter i would say there is always a place, always. If, in this parish, the priest doesnt seem welcoming, i understand, but go and look. There is always a place. Do not run away from the church. The church is very big. Its more than a temple. Its more. You shouldnt run away from it. Norah we also asked the pope about the migrant crisis, gay rights, womens role in the church, and whether he is thinking about retirement. Well have that and much more on 60 minutes on sunday, may 19th, and then a prime time special on monday, may 20th, right here on cbs. For our interview with pope francis, we also wanted to take a pulse of the Catholic Church back home in the u. S. , so we asked catholics in cities across the country about their relationship with the church, how they feel about this pope, and what message they want to hear from him. I would describe the pope as transformative. He is a oneofakind papacy. I think he has done a great job talking about the marginalized, the poor, the care for the environment. We support him. He is our guide. Reporter like the church he leads, americans opinions of pope francis are diverse. Hes got some things that i agree with, some things maybe i dont agree with. We always need popes that challenge our way of thinking, and i think he is doing that. Reporter while a majority of american catholics view francis favorably, many we spoke with thought the church needed to evolve. 83 of u. S. Catholics want the church to allow the use of contraception, and more than half think the church should recognize gay marriage. I think they do need to bring women into the church. They need to ordain women as priests, and they need to allow priests to marry. Everything changes, and sometimes i think the church needs to change, too. Reporter a recent survey found more americans were leaving the Catholic Church at higher rates than any other religion. I feel like i can just be spiritual anywhere, you know, i dont really necessarily have to go to a church. You know, and i feel like that is the Old School Way of thinking. I think there has been a lot of bad news about the catholics, religion, about the priest, in general, and i think people have turned around and walked away from that. We have a lot of young people that grew up in the Catholic Church, but they dont feel that they are getting the message. They feel they are not accepted. They feel they might be ostracized. They feel that, like, they dont belong to the church. Reporter we spoke with patrick egan, who left the Catholic Church as a teenager, only to come back in search of a community. He is now a leader at a local parish. Does the Catholic Church feel different under pope francis . Yes. Francis has really tried to open the door to participation by people who have been traditionally outside of the hierarchy. Reporter he blames strict adherence to ideology for the decline, but says that can change. What do you think it would take for the Catholic Church to be able to reconnect with americans . They need to meet americans where they are. We are a very secular society, and so if the church can figure out a way to help people understand how a spiritual journey and a Faith Community can really make ones life more rich and meaningful, that, i think, is also part of the story. Norah and Nikki Battiste joins us now. And nikki, so many of the people we spoke with thought that pope francis has been much more inclusive. What did you learn . Reporter the feeling is very much the same here in the u. S. Pope francis has made a concerted effort to soften the message of the Catholic Church. Its an approach that has angered some of the more conservative followers, but its part of the popes plan to make all feel welcome. Norah . Norah we also asked him about those conservative bishops. Youll hear about that later. Nikki battiste, thank you. Now to tonights other top story. Clashes between police and propalestinian demonstrators are intensifying. Protests at Columbia University in new york are now in their eighth day. And today, the Speaker Of The House was on campus, calling on the schools president to restore order. Cbss nancy chen has more on the growing, nationwide tensions. Let the go reporter this was the scene at the university of Southern California after School Security tried to stop students from setting up a protest encampment. Hundreds of demonstrators surrounded a patrol car after Campus Police detained one student, who was later released. Free, free, free palestine reporter at the university of texas, austin, police in riot gear and officers on horseback confronted about 200 students participating in a propalestinian rally. More than 20 were arrested. On the east coast, demonstrators set up a encampment on harvard yard, in solidarity with protesters at Columbia University where House Speaker mike johnson spoke and was met with both jeers and boos. I am here today joining my colleagues in calling on president shafik to resign if she cannot immediately bring order to this chaos. Im just standing on the sidewalk reporter this is day eight of the protests at Columbia University. The school said it is making important progress with protesters but is giving students a deadline to dismantle the tents. Protesters say they will not leave until the school commits to cutting its Business Ties with israel. We need these administrators of the universities to get control of the situation. And if they cant, then we need the National Guard, law enforcement, or someone to come in here and take control. Reporter are you calling for the National Guard to come here . Desperate times call for desperate measures. Reporter for now, new York Governor Kathy Hochul says she has no plans to send in the guard. Columbia announced today that because of the unrest, there will be a remote option for upcoming final exams. Graduation is set to take place on campus in three weeks, norah. Norah nancy chen, thank you so much. We turn now to the Supreme Court in a case that could have wideranging implications for Womens Health care nationwide. At issue is the conflict between idahos neartotal abortion ban and a federal law that requires hospitals to provide emergency medical treatment. Cbss jan crawford was there for the oral arguments. Reporter the justices were sharply divided over Biden Administration arguments that federal law, which requires hospitals to provide necessary stabilizing treatment, including abortions, overrides idahos neartotal ban, which permits abortion to save a mothers life, but not when her health is at risk. Idaho law says the doctor has to determine, not that there is merely a serious medical condition, but that the person will die. Reporter liberal justices provided reallife examples of women who have been denied abortions in states with restrictive laws. Her life is not in peril, but she is going to lose her reproductive organs. She is going to lose the ability to have children in the future. Unless an abortion takes place. Reporter but some conservative justices noted that in idaho, doctors can perform some abortions if they believe the woman is in danger of dying. Raul labrador is idahos attorney general. They continue to say that this is putting womens lives in jeopardy, and it is not. Reporter idaho Officials Say the Biden Administration is trying to find a backdoor way to broaden abortion access. There will be more abortions happening in hospitals because they will create an exception that will allow any type of abortion to happen in the state of idaho. Reporter but stacy seyb, a highrisk pregnancy doctor in idaho, says physicians are afraid to perform Force Abortions even if the state law may allow it, over fears they could be prosecuted. We need to be able to help take care of people, at this point. Reporter and, you know, you could face criminal prosecution. Yes, and jail time. Reporter and in the political world today, another state with a neartotal ban, arizona, now poised to repeal it after three republicans joined with democrats in the arizona house. That will go to arizona senate, where there is support for the repeal, and then to the governor, who is excited to sign it. That would mean that, in a arizona, abortions would again be permitted up to 15 weeks. Norah . Norah thats a big development. Jan crawford, thank you. President biden signed a Bipartisan National Security package into law today. The measure forces tiktoks chinabased Parent Company to sell the videosharing app or be banned in the u. S. That provision is expected to face legal challenges and disrupt the income of content creators. There are 170 million tiktok users in the u. S. Alone. The law also provides 95 billion in longdelayed aid to ukraine, israel, and taiwan. There are new federal rules for airlines on everything from cash refunds to stopping hidden fees. 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